HARP'S ROLLS OUT DREAMCAST, SEES GOOD MOVEMENT

DAN ALAIMO

SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- Harp's Food Stores has successfully introduced the new Sega Dreamcast video game system to nine of its 20 video rental departments, said Craig Hill, video specialist. The chain has the software in 9 stores and rents hardward in four of those departments.

"Dreamcast is here and, knock on wood, it seems to be doing really well for us," he said. The roll-out coincided with the Sept. 9 national launch of the new game system, reaching all the stores within a week, he said. Harp's started with 10 software titles.

"None of our competition was going to put it in, so we jumped on it," said Hill. "We have big banners out and Jack of All Games (Cincinnati) helped us out with placards and banners."

Harp's began the roll-out in its larger video departments, he said.

The retailer continues to monitor the progress of the new game system as it decides how deeply to go with it. "With more than 20 or 26 games available, we'll track movement on the types of games available. Based on our budget, we are planning to bring in about two or three Dreamcast games per month," he said. "We are still going to stay with the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 because they are still going really strong," he said.

Harp's has the hardware in four stores and software in nine stores. The machines rent for $8.50 to $20 a night, and the software rentals range from $2.88 to $4, Hill said. Customers that rent the hardware get a free software rental the first time they rent the system.